Page 44 of Never Kiss a Highlander

She wanted to say that he didn’t have to break the agreement, but she was very glad he had. Marriage to this monster would have given her a lifetime of misery.

After a few more minutes of suffering, she decided that knowing the type of man Archie Sinclair was, she had to be sweet and submissive to get what she wanted.

“May we please stop for only a minute so I can take care of my needs?” She smiled all the time, her jaw so tight she considered a couple of her teeth would break.

Archie gave her a quick nod and held up his hand to signal to the other Sinclair that they were stopping.

He jumped off the horse but made no move to help her down. She slid off the animal and remembered for the first time her horse Bonnie-Bay. The animal was so well-trained she was certain she’d found her way back to the stables.

Archie walked her toward the bushes. At least he had enough understanding to allow her to go farther into the woods without accompanying her. But not without a warning. “If ye try to escape, I will hunt ye down and the beating ye will get will be only where my da can’t see it.”

With a sigh of relief, Alison squatted and relieved herself. Once that problem was taken care of, her rumbling stomach reminded her that she’d missed breaking her fast.

She joined Archie and they walked side-by-side to the horses where the other Sinclair waited. When they reached the animal, she said, “I dinna break my fast. I need food.”

“’Tis no’ my problem, lass.”

Before she could protest, he lifted her by the waist and practically tossed her onto the horse. Had she not grabbed the pommel, she would have slid to the other side and landed on the ground.

He climbed behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and they continued the journey.

Finn rode like someone possessed from the small village back to Castle Varrich, his heart thumping so loud he thought it wouldjump out of his throat. As much as he prayed Alison was home and safe, he had a very strong feeling that the fires were set to send him and some of his men away from the castle.

Since there didn’t appear to be anything amiss at the castle, he didn’t dismount but rode directly into the stables. Old Kilmead wandered out from the back of the stables, looking guilty.

“Where is Lady Mackay?” He didn’t mean for the words to come out as a bark, but given the look on Old Kilmead’s face, it apparently had.

The man swallowed a few times and waved toward the hill he and Alison rode down every morning. “She went off for her ride e’en though I told her ye said not to do it.”

He wanted to blast the man but knew ‘twas not his fault. His wife was stubborn and independent and took every opportunity to defy him. This time he was certain she’d run into trouble.

He turned Morag toward the hill and rode at a speed he was lucky didn’t cause him to tumble over the animal’s head.

A race around the area they generally rode in produced no evidence of his wife. Realizing he needed help to continue his search, he headed back to the keep.

Once he arrived at the stable, Bonnie-Bay wandered out, her saddle still on her back. “Did ye find yer wife, Finn?”

“Nay.” He shook his head, thinking the man would have assumed that since his wife’s horse had returned without her.

“I need a fresh horse. Take care of Morag and tack another one for me.” He walked off to the keep. He would need to get a few men to help him search, although, since the questionable fire, he had a sick feeling that Alison had been taken.

“Finn!” Albert came rushing toward him, waving a piece of parchment. “This just came for ye. A messenger brought it.”

Finn grabbed the parchment and read it. He looked up at Albert. “The Sinclair has abducted Alison.”

Chapter Nineteen

“I want what’s due to me. If ye hadn’t allowed Finn Mackay’s hands all o’er ye, we wouldn’t have canceled the betrothal agreement,” Gilbert Sinclair said, glaring at Alison and pounding his fist on the table in the great hall where he sat with a mug of ale in front of him.

Alison was feeling weak and dizzy and didn’t have the strength to argue with the man. She was tired and her stomach was queasy. The ride from Castle Varrich to Castle Sinclair Grinigoe had been arduous.

She had to fight Archie every time she needed to stop. He groused and complained and made plenty lurid remarks about her and women in general. She hated him more with each mile they rode.

They’d arrived at the Sinclair keep a short while ago, and after being literally dragged from the horse and up the stairs to the keep to appear before The Sinclair, she only wanted a warm drink to settle her stomach and a place to sleep.

Despite the blow to her back from Archie that still pained her, she didn’t feel concerned for her safety. The Sinclair had made it clear she was being held hostage to get The Mackay’s attention and hold true to the contract they’d both signed.

‘Twas tradition that, if a betrothal agreement was broken, the groom’s family was expected to keep the dower. She’d had no idea if they kept it or not, since she had never been allowed to know very much about what was agreed to, except that she was to permit his lemman to remain in his bed.