Page 8 of The Laird’s Wrong Wife

Tommy caught her fingers. “Faither can take ye to our tents. Then ye can see her.”

Her warmth vanished when she looked at Oscar, and the change irritated him more than it should have.

“Yer faither has already done enough for me,” she said. “Perhaps ye can show me the way back to the Morrag tents before ye leave.”

She gave Tommy’s shoulder a final squeeze and moved toward the entrance, but Oscar stepped between her and the flap without touching her. She halted close enough that he could see her breath disturb the loose strand of hair near her mouth. Tommy watched them with open expectation while Lennan remained wisely silent near the tent wall.

“What are ye doin’?” she asked, her voice sharp.

Oscar straightened and stared straight at her. “’Tis simple, lassie. Now I certainly cannae let ye go.”

CHAPTER 3

Oscar turned away from Ceana and raised one hand toward the MacKane men waiting near the tent wall. The movement dismissed her argument as thoroughly as his body still blocked the entrance. He believed she was Daphne Tulloch, the woman Angus MacWatt expected to claim before the festival ended, and his next order made clear that he intended to act upon that belief.

“Prepare the carriage,” he ordered. “We leave as soon as the horses are ready.”

Ceana stared at his back. She had expected another threat or more questions about Angus. A carriage meant Oscar intended to remove her from the festival before her parents discovered she was gone. Once he carried her beyond the grounds, the safe-conduct agreement between the gathered clans would offer her little protection.

She watched as he looked toward the man called Lennan. “Send word to Angus. Tell him that his intended is under me protection. I will claim the match before the festival closes.”

Lennan’s expression remained controlled, though his attention shifted briefly toward Ceana. “Do ye mean to call her yer match, me Laird, or yer hostage?”

“Me match.”

The answer tightened Ceana’s chest. A public claim made during the Leanan Festival does not constitute marriage, but it would place both clans under the eyes of every witness present. Angus would hear that his intended had accepted protection from another laird. Her father would be forced to prepare for a battle she had never meant to cause.

Oscar continued watching her as he gave the order. “Make certain Angus understands that any attempt to take her will be treated as an aggression against Clan MacKane.”

Lennan lowered his head.

Ceana crossed the short space before she could consider the wisdom of touching a man who had kidnapped her. She caught Oscar’s hand just as he began to dismiss Lennan.

His fingers were warm beneath hers and rough from years of sword work, while her hand looked small around the base of his thumb. He went completely still, and every man in the tent followed his gaze to where she held him.

Ceana noticed the contact only after the entire tent had fallen quiet. She stood close enough to see the dark stubble along his jaw and the faint scar disappearing beneath his collar. Her body registered his size and the steady strength of the hand she had seized. She knew very well that escape would be tricky, if not impossible.

So she released him. The absence of contact came too quickly, and she curled her fingers against her palm as if the movement could erase the sensation.

“Stop these preparations,” she demanded. “Ye have misunderstood everythin’.”

Oscar’s attention sharpened on her face. He offered no jest about her touching him. “I understand that Angus intended to marry ye and that ye are safer away from him.”

“Ye put a sack over me head, declared me yers, and ordered men to remove me from me family. Is that what ye call protection?”

He nodded. “Yer faither will receive a formal contract.”

The sack had frightened her because it had taken her sight, leaving her helpless in the hands of strangers. The contract, on the other hand, frightened her in a different way.

Her father would have to choose between refusing a powerful laird and accepting the damage already done to her reputation. Who knew what would even happen when they found out that Daphne was missing and that she had taken her place.

“And do I have any say in this contract?” she asked.

“Ye may begin by tellin’ me what ye have concealed since ye were brought into this tent.”

Outside, a man called for the horses to be brought around. Another voice repeated the name Lady Daphne as orders passed between the guards. Every moment Ceana delayed allowed the lie to spread further.

She glanced at Lennan. “Before I tell ye, promise that what I say will remain inside this tent.”