Page 43 of Never Kiss a Highlander

It was another reason she felt as though her da was willing to enter into any agreement to get rid of her, or mayhap he was indeed suffering from a mental decline after her brothers had died.

Every so often, she saw her old da, who seemed clear and even energetic. She had overheard her father talking to James and Albert at the evening meal one night about the restoration of the Stuart monarchy a couple of years before and how the Highlanders felt the need to be fully aligned. Mayhap that was the boon Da received from the betrothal.

All of that didn’t matter, however, with the predicament she was in. Finn would be furious when he found out she left the stable by herself and then got abducted.

She calmed herself since it was not likely she would escape from the two Sinclairs and she would waste her energy trying.‘Twas better if she waited to see where they were taking her and try to escape from there.

“Where are ye taking me?”

Silence.

“I asked, where are ye taking me?”

Silence.

She jabbed Archie’s middle with a strong jolt from her elbow, catching him by surprise. He grunted and raised his fist to hit her when the other Sinclair said, “Nay. Da will no’ be happy if ye harm her.”

Archie leaned down and said softly to her. “I doona care what my da says; if ye hit me again, I will blacken yer eye and tell my da ye fell.”

So the men were under orders not to harm her. ‘Twas also interesting that, had she married this man, not only would she be sleeping in a cold bed, but she would also most likely be visiting the healer on a regular basis since she wasn’t very good at keeping her thoughts to herself.

She grinned. Not like Finn who kissed her objections away. Blast, she missed the man. Even though she knew he would be very angry with her, there was no doubt that he would rescue her.

She trusted him.

Deciding maybe it was better being sweeter than she wanted to be with Archie, she said, “So where are ye taking me?”

To her surprise, he answered. “Castle Sinclair Grinigoe.”

“Can I ask what yer purpose is? As I mentioned, I am married to Finn Mackay and we are verra happy.”

Were they very happy? Aye. She was, anyway, and was pretty certain her husband was as well. Did that mean they loved each other?

Before she could dwell on that, Archie said, “When ye played the whore for Mackay and forced me to break our betrothal agreement, we lost things that my da wants.”

She huffed. “I did no’ play the whore, but then ye would ken all about that since ye have one of yer own.”

Despite whatever warning Archie had received, he punched her on her back, taking her breath away and bringing tears to her eyes. Apparently the brother—name unknown—didn’t see what Archie did, but she knew she would be suffering a bruise on her back.

“Then I am to be yer hostage until ye get what ye want from The Mackay?”

“Aye. Now I want ye to shut yer mouth since yer blathering is giving me a headache.”

After a while she realized she needed to stop to take care of her needs. “I must take a break.”

“No breaks. We intend to reach Sinclair before dark.”

She shifted around. “No’ possible, unless ye wish me to piss on yer lap.”

“Ye do that and I’ll strip yer clothes off and let ye ride naked the rest of the way.”

She had no doubt this monster would do it. “I would freeze to death!”

He shrugged. “Then stop asking for things.”

“This is the first thing I asked for. Doona ye have any feelings in ye at all?”

“No’ for ye. I lost the entire Mackay clan because of ye.”