“So ye brought me here to… to what?" she continued, unfazed. “To just wait on the day ye decide to start treating me as the Lady of yer clan?”
“We’ve no’ made it back to the Keep yet,” he pointed out, his voice infuriatingly calm.
She felt her jaw tense, teeth on edge. He seemed utterly at ease with everything that was going on here, and she couldn’t have loathed the feeling more.
“And how long will that be?” she asked, hands on her hips.
The flicker of a smile crossed his lips.
“You seem in a great rush to become my wife, lass?—”
“I just dinnae want to sit in that carriage alone any longer,” she huffed, pouting her lips together.
She saw no reason to be mature or careful in the way she spoke to him. If he wanted her as a bride, then he would have to take with it everything she had to offer. He was the one who had decided to claim her without getting to know her first. Now, he would learn what he had gotten himself into.
“And what would ye have me do if I were in there with ye?” he replied, cocking an eyebrow.
“Well, ye could make some effort to get to know me, for one!” she exclaimed.
She noticed a couple of his men looking back at them and a few scattered chuckles at the sound of their disagreement. They were going to have to get used to it. She would not silence herself for the sake of making this man feel better.
“All alone together?” he remarked, shifting closer, that grin widening. “Ye’re sure that’s a good idea?”
“Won’t we be spending most of our time alone together once we’re married?” she responded. “Or are you going to let me seek company elsewhe?—”
Before she could finish what she was saying, his hand whipped out to grasp her wrist. His searing touch alone was enough to silence her, the sudden pressure of his fingers locked against her skin driving every sensible thought from her mind. She parted her lips, intending to protest, but the words seemed to wither on her tongue, her throat suddenly dry as she stared at him.
“I’d be careful what ye say, lass,” he warned her. “Or I might no’ wait till the wedding to start treating ye as my wife, hmm?”
She swallowed hard. His eyes burned, even in this dim light, with a passion that she had never seen before. Was this what she could expect from him when he became her husband? The world seemed to have narrowed to the feel of his hand on her skin, his grip so intense she knew he could have convinced her to do anything he wanted. For the briefest instant, all the fight seemed to drain out of her, and she imagined falling into his arms, letting him hold her and dance with her as he had back in the Great Hall. Her heart thudded against her chest, picking up a pace she was not sure she could keep up with.
And then, she wrenched herself out of his grip, lifting her chin and glaring at him.
“Ye’ll do no such thing,” she retorted, and she lifted her skirts to make her way back to the waiting carriage.
Climbing inside without a fuss this time, she slammed the door behind her, making certain that he could hear it from where he was standing.
She realized, as she sank back into the leather seat, that she was trembling slightly. She could still feel the warmth of his fingers against her skin, as though he had branded her with a single touch.
His harsh words and his demands had only served to force her to dig her heels in even further. He wanted a wife, didn’t he? Well, she would be his wife. But that didn’t mean she had to be a good one, or a palatable one, or one he would want to spend any time around.
As the carriage pulled off once again, she felt a smile playing at the corner of her lips, her head dancing with a million ideas on how to make his life more difficult. And, as she closed her eyes, she felt at peace for the first time since she had been faced with the sudden shock of her newfound engagement. It might have been childish, and she might have only been making her life harder in the process, but this man would not get the simpering young wife he clearly thought he deserved.
No, he would get her in all of her glory. And he would soon come to learn what it meant to snatch up a woman without taking the time to get to know her. Soon, he would wish that he had picked anyone else from that fateful feast.
And perhaps she would find some way to enjoy the mess that she currently found herself standing in.
Chapter Four
Isla wokewith a start as the carriage came to a halt beneath her, head snapping up. Peering around, she could see that the last rays of sunlight filtered through the windows. They must have been traveling all day to get here—to her new home.
She rolled her shoulders back, brushing the hair back from her face and hoping she didn’t look too much of a fright. Smoothing the dress over her knees, she sat up, making sure she had the haughtiest expression on her face she could muster as the door swung open.
One of Camron’s men stood on the other side. It seemed as though he did not even deign her worthy of his welcome. Well, that wouldn’t be a problem, because she had no intention of making this easy for him, either. The man offered her a hand and she ignored it as she climbed out of the carriage, dropping into the courtyard beyond, and glancing around to take in her new home.
It looked not unlike the McFadden Keep, in some ways. A tower stood at each corner of the main structure, four in total, looking out over the rolling hills beyond, and a large wooden doorway was standing open to lead to the Keep’s Great Hall. She could see flickering torches and flagstone floors beyond, as wellas a handful of young women scurrying about, perhaps to see the Lady of the Keep as she made her first arrival. Had news of her engagement already reached this place? She wasn’t sure how, but then, there was plenty that had happened in the last day or so that she could never have foreseen.
Camron climbed down from his horse, dropping right beside her and stepping forward. He hardly looked tired at all, though it could not have been easy for him, riding all day. His dark hair was a little windswept and his cheeks red, but other than that, he bore no sign that he had been in any kind of struggle at all.
