There was no doubting he spoke the truth. Her time for secrets was up and whatever he had in mind, there was little she could do about it. She hoped he would not carry out her sentence until she was in the presence of his father. After that, she could only imagine she would suffer the same fate as her aunt Margaret, the One-Eyed Woman, and the reason the recent war had escalated in the first place. That meant being handfasted to one of them—atbest.
She drew a deep breath. “I am Sheona MacLeod, eldest daughter of Rory MacLeod, chief of our clan. My torture or death will bring a bloodbath on you and yours the likes you have not yet seen. I assure you, MacDonald, my father will tear apart Knock Castle stone by stone to find me. So if ’tis ransom you seek, name your terms and I will see itdone.”
By the time she finished her speech, she stood taller and was certain she had finally gained some ground with the man. She might have no control over her fate, but she would not accept it without afight.
He grinned. For a moment, the lines of his face softened and she could truly see the handsome man beneath the scar. He surprised her further by holding out his hand. She stared at it, quite unsure what he expected ofher.
“Take my hand, Lady Sheona. Had you told me who you were before, you would have received the treatment due yourstation.”
Somehow she wasn’t comforted. While he thought she was a common wench, he could treat her poorly; now that he knew she was a lady, she would receive proper treatment? Sheona shook her head. She would not take hishand.
“And does this proper treatment include returning me to myfather?”
“You know very well it doesnot.”
“And why isthat?”
“Because you are my property, acquired from the spoils of war and I am not ready to give youup.”
Sheona couldn’t believe her ears. He still considered her his? Anger welled within her. He had no right to her and certainly could not claim her as his prisoner. There was only one way he could have her and she had no intention of mentioningit.
“I am no man’s property.” She lifted her chin and placed her hands on her hips. “When you inform my father you hold me prisoner, he will send his army to attack Knock Castle and will rescue me. That I assure you. So put your ropes around my wrists if you must. But know this, Malcolm MacDonald, I will never be yourswillingly.”
She held out her hands in mock surrender, with one brow cocked to see what he would do. MacDonald took her wrists in one hand and held them high above her head. He pushed her so she was pressed against a tree and leaned inclose.
“You will be mine in every sense of the word, Lady Sheona. Of thisIassureyou.”
He brushed his lips across hers and her whole body shuddered in response. He pressed his mouth to hers and moved her lips open, flicking his tongue inside. The taste of him was intoxicating. Shivers coursed through her. MacDonald’s hand was suddenly on the back of her head drawing her deeper into his kiss. He coaxed her tongue to entangle with his, teasing, tasting. Sheona’s own hands found their way to the back of his neck, playing with his hair as his body pressed harder againsther.
He broke the kiss and moved his hot, wet mouth down across her neck. “Your scent is wild, Lady Sheona. Like a summermeadow.”
“My lord, we must keep moving!” A voice shouted in thedistance.
MacDonald ceased his delicious torture on her neck and drew back to gaze into her eyes. His breath was shaky as it fanned her face. He studied her for long moments and Sheona tried to hide her mortification over the passion they had justshared.
“Mine.” His single word was but a whisper. He took her hands and pulled them in front of her, then wrapped a rope around them and tied tight. MacDonald walked back toward his horse tugging on the rope and her. She had never felt so confused in her life. What in heaven’s name did he intend to do withher?
* * *
Malcolm wasin a much lighter mood than he’d been when they left the village. Not only had they managed to acquire more cattle than they expected, which would make his father pleased, he possessed their enemy’s most valuableprize.
Of all the people he imagined, he would have never guessed he would encounter Sheona MacLeod this day. He’d heard stories of her beauty from her aunt during the year the woman was handfasted to hisfather.
He thought back to that time, three years earlier. At first his father seemed quite taken with Margaret MacLeod and everyone wondered if the attempt at resolving the clans’ differences through a marriage might just be settled afterall.
But all that turned as the months passed and she didn’t become with child. His father was a cruel man and Margaret showed up for the morning meal on more than one occasion with an ugly bruise on her face. At some point she lost sight in one eye and it wasn’t long after that she was sent home to her brother, used, abused, and unmarried. To add insult to injury, she’d been forced to ride a one-eyed horse and be accompanied by a one-eyed groom and a one-eyeddog.
Her brother was so enraged that the last two years had been wrought with vicious warring and raids that only seemed to be getting worse. Would any of them survive it? Malcolm had to tread carefully. If he brought Sheona before his father, who knows what the man would do to her. He had no intention of letting her go, but he also had no intention of letting his father decide her fate. He had from now until late tomorrow eve to formulate a plan. In the meantime, the lovely Sheona MacLeod would not be out of his sight for onemoment.
They mounted his horse and moved in line with the other members of his clan. Every part of his body that touched hers burned. She’d tasted so sweet, like drinking from a fresh mountainspring.
“Do you mind shifting back a little, Lord MacDonald? I do not have enoughroom.”
“Does my nearness botheryou?”
“You botherme.”
“Do I? Or perhaps you are bothered by how much you liked mykissing.”
