"Ye are?"
"Aye.Did ye think we merely raid near small villages?Edinburgh is full of nobles with deep pockets."Cormac smirked and glanced down at her.
"But surely ye'd travel faster without me.I dinnae need to go to Edinburgh – my servants at the estate can care for my needs until my family returns."
"Dinnae be ridiculous.'Tis not safe for a gently bred noblewoman to be left alone in an estate when the head of the household is away."
Una tried to argue but Cormac had a ready reply for every objection.Eventually she simply nodded and stared directly ahead as his arm tightened around her and he quickened their pace.
She understood then that she needed to escape.At the next stop, or the one after, she could slip away, head back to Kyleakin, and throw herself on the mercy of Boyd and Bella MacKinnon at their keep.
The plan was sensible.It was the right thing to do.
The problem was that Cormac never let her out of his sight.He was always nearby – holding her hand, riding with her against him, positioned just within reach.
He was not obvious about it.He simply always seemed to be there.
She also could not decide whether she wanted him to stop.
That was the more inconvenient problem.
***
Chapter 11
MacKinnon Keep, Inner Hebrides
Laird Boyd MacKinnon, otherwise known as the Monk, loved his wife and son to distraction.
He sat by the fireplace of the Great Hall bouncing a giggling baby Quinn on his lap.The babe jumped and babbled and occasionally grabbed Boyd's finger and tried to eat it, and Boyd laughed each time as if it were the funniest thing he had ever witnessed.
Father and son were thoroughly lost in their mutual admiration of one another when the door to the hall opened and his wife Bella came running in with a worried look upon her face.
Boyd's attention snapped to her immediately.He stood, cradled Quinn closer against his chest, and extended his free arm to his wife.
Bella crossed to them and pressed her lips to the top of Quinn's dark head, holding them there for a moment.Then she pressed herself against Boyd's chest as he enclosed her with his free arm.
