The two men sat back and put their hands up, exchanging glances.
“You do not need to raise your voice to me, Angus. We will abide by whatever you say regarding her. You have my word.”
“Mine, too,” Graham said.
“Good. If this is going to work, we need to all work together toward the common goal, which is to find my father and secure his release. She is a valuable asset in that goal, and I will not see one hair on her head harmed in the process.”
“I locked the door after you left,” Graham said. “She cannot escape.”
“I am glad to hear it. Now, about the business of this proposal. How much time should we give him?”
The three men hammered out an agreement, which they then left with MacLean.
The man had a sizeable doocot and reliable carrier doves. The message would be sent in the morning.
Angus was weary and needed to lay down for even a couple of hours of rest before journeying the remainder of the way to Islay the next day. They would sail at daybreak and, God willing, make port by sunset. He would be a much happier man when he had the woman safely inside the walls of Finlaggan Castle.
Angus climbed the steps toward her chamber. He planned to check on her first, then proceed to an additional chamber he had purchased adjacent to hers. There was a door adjoining them, so he would just go through there once he was sure she was settled.
He rattled the key into the lock and swung the door wide, then quickly stepped inside the chamber and closed the door behind him. She was standing up in the tub with water sluicing down across her body. Dear God in heaven, he would not survive her.
CHAPTER FOUR
Annabella gasped when she realized the MacDonald had walked in on her just as she exited the tub. She quickly grabbed the linen shift the maids had left for her, and held it up tight to her chin while she faced him and waited to see what he would do.
Part of her, the deep down part, trusted that he would not ravage her, but her mind conjured up all sorts of stories from her time in England leading up to her journey north to the Scottish court. She had come to Scotland to escape, and now the word held a much different meaning.
“Please avert your eyes, sir. I am not decent and, as a gentleman, you must afford me my privacy so that I may dress.”
A low, deep chuckle escaped his lips. “Did you not say I was barbaric? Now you envision me a gentleman? However did I manage that, my lady?”
“As you are still staring at my naked form, you are clearly not a gentleman. I was merely being polite, and hopeful that you would leave the chamber and allow me some privacy.”
Angus stepped toward her—a slow, stealthy movement that made her grip her shift tighter and lean back. In two more steps, he reached her and gently pulled the shift out of her hands then tossed it aside.
“Now you are naked, my lady, and I have every intention to stare at you until I get my fill.” His voice was low and deep.
His gaze slowly slid down her neck and hovered at her breasts while she attempted to cover them, though her hands and arms did not sufficiently offer the barrier she had hoped from the heat in his gaze.
Angus reached out and stroked her arms, as if willing her to drop them from her breasts. Though somewhere in the back of her mind she protested, she let them fall to her sides and watched as his breath caught, and he swallowed hard while stroking the soft flesh just above her nipple.
“By God, you are glorious,” he said in a hoarse voice.
And that was all it took to shake her back to her senses. Annabella gasped and darted around him to snatch up her shift and, in one swift movement, wiggled her way into it. She turned to confront him, only to find him locking her door. Without another word, he strode through a side door she had not noticed then slammed it shut.
Slumping against the bed post, Annabella stared hard at the door for long moments. The man had a way of ensnaring her, though she knew better of it. She was not some untrained milk maiden who did not know proper conduct or the expectations of a man. She had been taught very early on not to encourage a man, especially if his temper was up. Her father’s sometimes was, and her mother had schooled her frequently on remaining silent when such a situation arose.
No, Annabella was not ignorant to the ways of strong-minded and stubborn men. The problem was, besides a proper upbringing, she knew in her heart it was not right for men to have all the allowances and the women none.
Heat crept into her face and spread across her body. Was she fooling herself? Allowances? Had she not gazed openly upon Angus’s naked flesh, as well? What if he thought her inappropriate behaviour was a sign of invitation?
Annabella blew out the candles in the room and crawled underneath the covers, as if doing so would erase her shame. Angus was right; the bed was more than comfortable. Her hair was still wet and would no doubt make her cold later on, but for now she could only lie in the strange bed, in a strange land, next to a man who drew and repelled her in equal measure.
Her body wanted him near. She wanted to smell, touch, even taste him. This wild Highlander, whom she’d been told was so barbaric, had shown none of the torturous methods she had expected. Somehow, she feared the budding tension between them might be far more dangerous than any torment her mind could ever have conjured.
Annabella flipped onto her side and stared at the closed door between them. Her body ached in ways she had never felt before. Like she was waking for the first time, blossoming into a foreign woman who did not care for sitting properly, so ram-rod straight, her back might snap. Something felt different within her, and she suspected it had begun long before her abduction mere hours earlier.
She should be terrified. Should be. So why wasn’t she? Annabella thought back to the first moment she beheld Angus striding across the walkway at Edinburgh Castle. Even then she had been drawn to him. As though the heavens had offered him to her in her moment of need.
