“And how long might that be?”
“As long as it takes for the Stewart to come to his senses and release my father.” “So you plan to exchange me, then? He will not be happy if I am harmed.”
She did not have a close relationship with the king, but she did with the queen and was certain neither would allow any harm to come to her.
“I have no intention to harm you. Not unless you give me reason.”
“And what sort of reason might that be?” she asked, looking up into his gaze and noted his scowl. How she had ever found him attractive was beyond her.
He kicked the horse’s sides and drove the animal forward even faster. Annabella had no choice but to hold onto the horn with both hands. His arms flexed around her and held her in place as they tore off across the countryside. Rolling farmlands eventually turned to craggy cliffs, and the road that was dry and hard-packed became uneven and more difficult to navigate.
After a few hours’ riding, they broke into a clearing and stopped near a stream. MacDonald dismounted and reached for her. She lifted her chin and turned away from him when large, strong hands slipped around her waist and pulled her from the horse. A small squeak escaped her lips.
“Be stubborn if you wish, but this animal needs a rest and a drink. He has more than earned it.”
He deposited her onto the ground and led the horse to the stream, tying its reins to a large ash tree. Annabella tried to steady her legs, but they had cramped. She scanned the area. The road was not easily visible from the ground, and she suspected that was an advantage of sitting atop a horse.
With MacDonald’s back facing her, she tried to figure out which way to run once the feeling came back to her legs. She backed away slowly so as to not draw any attention to herself.
“You seem an intelligent woman, but I cannot shake the feeling that you are plotting to run.” He turned back toward her and smiled, as though they were two people who actually liked one another out for an afternoon ride.
She had almost made it to the tree line and pivoted on one foot, about to dash through the forest, but he was too quick. Before she made it five steps, he caught her and tackled her to the ground.
She landed with a great whomp, knocking the air out of her lungs. She gasped for breath.
“If you do that again, I will not follow you,” he said. “And when you are set upon by wild dogs and boars, you will wish you had stayed with me.”
He loomed over her, his hard body pressing down upon hers. Annabella squirmed away from him, but he grabbed her wrists and pinned her. He leaned down so that his face was just inches from hers.
“Promise me you will not run again, and I will let you up.”
“I will not make a promise to a man who does not keep his word.” “I always keep my word.”
Annabella lifted her chin. “You told me you would not harm me, and yet here you are mistreating me.”
He had the gall to cock his eyebrow. “How am I mistreating you?”
“You have knocked me to the ground and now hold me against my will.”
MacDonald shifted his hips, and the sensation brought about a tingling between her thighs. She had never felt anything quite like it in her life, so when he shifted again, she mirrored his movement. This made him frown.
“You are no lady,” he said.
Her cheeks flamed. How dare he say such a thing when it was he who had abducted her, and he who knocked her to the ground!
“You will let me up this instant! Or I will…I will…”
“You will what? Have me arrested? Thrown into the dungeon with my father?
Believe me, Lady Annabella, many have tried but none have succeeded.”
“I will succeed. And when you are swinging by your neck, I will watch, and I will smile and applaud the hangman.”
She had never seen a hanging in her life, but this man had infuriated her enough that she was certain she would enjoy his.
“You are full of passion, Lady Annabella,” he said. “Are you passionate in all ways?”
Before she could answer, his lips crashed down on hers. His tongue forced its way into her mouth and tangled with hers. He ground his hips harder into her now, and she could not stop hers from rising to meet his. What was happening to her? She wanted this sensation to continue. Annabella’s body pulsed and throbbed as he wedged his knee in between her legs and spread her wide.
