He stalked forward and caught her by the arm. His scorching gaze dropped to her parted lips. His face was only inches away; she could feel his breath beating against her cheeks. She sucked in a quivering breath.
“You’re lying.”
This time she did not argue. She could not even speak.
“I’ll use force if I have to,” he said in a low, threatening voice. “One way or another, you’re going to give me what I want.”
Her flesh sizzled where he touched her. She understood that it was part fear, part irrational excitement. He was stunningly handsome, bold and robust, and when she thought of how he had fought off all those armed guards, single-handedly, her body went weak all over again.
God,why did he have to be so potent and alive? She didn’t want to feel any of the things she was feeling, but something about him awakened her spirit, and she was beginning to feel that he was the key to her past—that he would awaken her memories as well. Make them positively explode out of that tight, locked box.
“I told you,” she replied nevertheless, lifting her chin and breathing in his musky scent while reminding herself not to become too swept up in his vigor, for he might be handsome, but he was also dangerous and volatile. “I don’t know how to help you.”
The sheer force of his silence held her captive as his eyes burned into hers. Then suddenly he began to wrench up her skirts and wrestle with his kilt.
“What are you doing?” she asked in horror, fighting to twist out of his hold.
“We’ll do it your way then,” he growled. “If you won’t lift the curse, you’ll have to share it with me. Maybe then you’ll be more accommodating, whenyou’rethe one who’s staring death in the eye.”
He crowded up against her until the backs of her knees collided with the sofa and she landed with a gasp on the plush cushions. He stood over her, gazing down with raging eyes, and was about to push her legs apart and descend upon her when she held up her hands and cried, “All right! All right! I’ll lift it! I promise!”
With one knee braced upon the sofa cushion, he halted. His chest heaved wildly.
“Do it then,” he commanded. “Do itnow.”
Anxiety spurted through her. Part of her wanted to cry out for help, but who would hear her at this hour, in this deserted wing of the house? And if someone did come, her cousin would most assuredly kill this man, and she would never know the truth about her life.
What if he was right? What if these people were using her to gain access to Catherine’s inheritance? What if they had done something to her, to make her forget her life and cause her to unwittingly play the part of their missing heiress?
“Take me to Angus,” she demanded in a rush of desperation, needing to see the man who had allegedly been such an important part of her life. The man who was once her lover. “I promise that by seeing him again, I will be able to lift the curse. I just need to remember.…” She fought to consider the more detailed logistics of such an arrangement and quickly added, “I won’t do anything for you until you deliver me to him.Safely.”
The corner of the Highlander’s mouth twitched.
“I need to know who I am,” she continued to explain. “I cannot go on living like this. Only then will I be able to help you.”
They glared at each other like two cats, each waiting for the other to pounce; then he pulled her swiftly to her feet.
“How do I know I can trust you?” he asked.
“How do I know I can trustyou? Especially when you are always looking at me as if…” She paused and gestured toward his big, rampant body. “As if you want toeatme.”
He gave her a threatening glare. “Idowant to eat you, lass. And I can’t guarantee I won’t try to steal a taste of you along the way. It’s been a miserable three-year famine, you see, and I’mverrahungry.”
She could see that quite clearly for herself.
Nevertheless, she stood her ground. “No, that will not do. I’m going to need your word of honor that you will not touch me. If you give me that, I will leave this house with you quietly, without a fight. I promise.”
But would she be able to lift the curse when she met her former lover again? She wasn’t sure, and she knew this was a dangerous game to play.
The air sparked and crackled between them while the Highlander considered her proposition.
At last he gave her the answer she wanted. “All right, lass. I’ll take you with me.”
Catherine exhaled sharply with relief—a feeling that was quickly extinguished when he moved forward and spoke low in her ear.
“But know this,” he whispered with sinister intent. “If you break your word to me and do not lift that curse when we reach Kinloch, I swear on my life that I will take great pleasure in killing you with it.”
He took hold of her hand and led her out, while she prayed to God that she would get her memories back before then.
