Adam surged forward and wrapped his arms around her. More words weren’t required; they had both spoken true from the heart.
He pulled her to his chest and rested his chin on her head. “Ye have made me the happiest of men, Kali.”
“Nothing can break our bond. Not time or distance. I will only ever love ye,” she said.
“It will deepen yer sorrows, Kali,” Adam said. “If I thought me sire still possessed an ounce of mercy, remembered what it was like to be in love, I’d beg him for approval of yer hand in marriage…”
“Marriage?”
“Aye. What a man and woman commit to once they’ve declared love for each other.”
“And I doona need ye to tell me what a man and woman do if they are in love. Not everyone possesses the freedom ye have, Adam! The ability to do whatever they want if a wild thought strikes them. I have been held captive for so long, visiting yer village and choosing something to eat for meself was as foreign to me as walking along the ocean. I have never known true joy until now.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, but Adam gave her the space she seemed to need.
“Let me fight for ye, lass.”
“Nay!” She stepped out of his embrace and glared at him. “How selfish would we be if we chose each other over me sisters? I could never truly be happy knowing they were still in me father’s clutches. In danger because of me.”
“I could have some men…”
“Nay!” She shook her head. “What if ye failed? Me sire would destroy them—kill them even.”
In a show of impatience, he grabbed her by the arms. “Let me be the man I am.”
“Let go and leave me alone, Adam. I came here to make peace, to tell ye the truth, not be forced into marriage or any other kind of arrangement. Love doesna give ye a right to own me. I am tired of men. Heartsick from all the violence ye cast upon the world.”
She turned her back on him and wandered into the woods, needing a moment of peace to collect her thoughts. So much had happened between them in the seven weeks she had been here. Adam wanted to save her from everyone and anything that threatened to harm her. But she didn’t want him to. She wanted to forge her own future, to feel in control of her own life.
He craved more than she could offer.
…
As Adam watched the area in the woods where Kali had disappeared, something splashed heavily in the burn behind him. Before Adam could spin around, a heavy thud sounded, and pain splintered through his skull as he sank to his knees and darkness threatened to overtake him. But not before he spied a pair of boots with intricate red embroidery around the edges of the tops. Not the boots of a commoner… Not the boots of a Highlander…
Then everything faded into shadows.
…
Two men grasped Kali’s arms, dragging her through the woods and to a waiting party of six horses and men.
“Let me go!” She tried to wrench free, but they only gave her a violent shake.
“Make it easier on yerself, mistress,” one said, “we have strict orders to deliver ye…”
“Father?” Kali spotted Thomas Bane on a great steed decorated like a warhorse. Fear made her knees wobble as she was brought before her sire, held in place by the guards.
“I can see ye have no’ changed after being here nigh on three months.” Her father didn’t hide his disgust. “So here I am, come to take ye home meself.”
Kali turned her head, trying to see over her shoulder. Where had Adam gone? Did he know her father had arrived? Nay, he couldn’t—wouldn’t betray her.
“Aye,” her father said. “Perhaps ye are wondering where Laird MacKay’s eldest son is? Ye’ve been whorin’ around with the lad, I hear. Flaunting yerself.”
She thought of everything she had learned while in the north, all the people she had grown close to, the confidence she had found. She shook herself free from the guards and straightened her spine, holding her head high. “If I were in a nunnery, ye’d accuse me of being a whore, Father. There is no reasoning with ye.”
Bane’s face turned bright red as he slipped from the saddle and came to stand in front of her. “Ye have a wicked tongue, girl.” He slapped her hard across the face, but she didn’t react, stood her ground as bravely as any soldier facing his worst enemy.
He smacked her again. And when she didn’t cry out, he did it again to her other cheek. Not hard enough to leave a bruise, but hard enough to hurt.
“Ye’ve grown more frigid in the north,” her sire said.
