Page 23 of Highlander’s Vengeful Seduction

He stood there, frozen, as though he could not believe that Vanora had just kissed him, even though they were already planning to run away together. Vanora had to grab his arm and tug him to the end of the hallway, where they found the door that would lead to their freedom.

The moment Vanora opened the door, a small gust of wind rushed through the hallway, filling it with the scents of the blooming flowers. She looked at Donal with a smile that reached all the way to her eyes, crinkling their corners.

“Are ye ready?” she asked. “We cannae go back after this.”

“Are ye ready?” Donal asked. “I dinnae want ye tae do something that ye will regret. If ye’d rather stay here, with yer family, then I understand.”

“No,” Vanora said. “I want tae come with ye, Donal. I love ye like I have never loved anyone else. I dinnae ken what I would dae here without ye; I dinnae ken what I’d do if I would never see ye again. I cannae live without ye.”

“Aye, ye can,” Donal assured her. “But I am glad ye dinnae want tae.”

Donal then leaned closer to Vanora and kissed her, relishing the fact that she now wanted him to do so and would not push him away. Vanora knew that they still had to hurry, though, so he only allowed him to kiss her for a moment before she pulled back from him.

“Make yer way down the path towards the woods. I’ll go fetch the horses, and I’ll meet ye there.”

“What will ye tell the stable boy?” Donal asked. “Ye cannae simply take two horses out of there in the middle of the night.”

“I doubt Heckie is there,” Vanora said.

The stable boy always had the most baffling ability to disappear, especially when someone else was at the stables. She didn’t worry so much about him.

“Even if he is, he willnae try to stop me. Heckie has a…weel, he has a soft spot for me. I ken that I can convince him to stay quiet and give me the horses. He winnae say anything, not until the morrow, and by then, we’ll be long gone.”

It didn’t surprise Donal that Vanora had found yet another admirer in the stable boy. After all, the lad would have to be blind to not fall for her charms and beauty.

“What if something happens tae ye?” Despite Vanora’s words, Donal could not be certain that she would be safe. What if she was wrong? What if Heckie tried to expose them? “What if he realizes what yer doing?”

“Then ye’ll run,” Vanora said. She took Donal’s hands in her own, holding them tightly, and looked at him straight in the eyes. “Do ye hear? Ye’ll run. Ye’ll run and go find yer men, and ye’ll leave Knapdale immediately. I’ll be fine, no matter what I do. I am the daughter of the general. they canna harm me. Perhaps they’ll lock me in my chambers for a while, or marry me off tae another man, but if that happens, then ye’ll ken about it. If I dinnae come tae ye tonight, in ten minutes, ye’ll ken tae come look for me when it all settles down.”

“What have I done tae deserve a lass like ye?” Donal asked with wonder. “I can hardly believe yer even real.”

Vanora smiled at him, giving him one last peck on the lips.

“Go, m’eudail,” she said. “Go.”

Chapter Twelve

Vanora made her way to the stables with high spirits. No one had seen them while they were walking through the castle, and now that they were outside of it, it was unlikely that anyone would. She knew the guards of Castle Sween very well, well enough to know that they barely ever did their job, and it was not the first time that she had sneaked out of the castle grounds at night.

She’d had several midnight adventures as a young woman. This was merely another.

When she got to the stables, she did find Heckie there. The stable boy was passed out cold, though, lying on a pile of hay in the corner of the building, away from the horses. If Vanora were to judge by the bottle that lay next to him, then she would guess that he had drunk himself to sleep, and he would not be waking up any time soon.

Vanora worked quickly, taking her own, beloved horse out of the stable, and then another one—a big, sturdy black horse that she remembered Donal using back when he was in Castle Sween, training under her father.

It only took her a few minutes to saddle them and lead them out and away from the stables, then hurry towards the woods, where she would be meeting Donal.

At that moment, she regretted not taking anything with her. She had left so suddenly, so quickly, that she hadn’t had the chance to take any clothes with her, other than the ones that she was wearing. She was shivering in the night chill. It was a small price to pay for saving Donal, though, and she tried to ignore the goosebumps that pebbled over her skin as much as she could. She could only hope that they would find shelter soon, as even in the summer, Knapdale was a chilly corner of the world.

When she made it to the edge of the woods, Vanora kept her eyes peeled for a figure, looking for Donal in the dark. The towering trees obscured the moonlight, leaving her little light with which she could find her way and her love, and her heart soon began to race as she worried that it would take her too long to find him before she had even properly started to look for him.

Just as she felt her breathing go shallow and labored, though, she saw Donal in the distance, in a small clearing where he was standing for the sole purpose of making himself easier to spot.

Even in the darkness, Vanora would have recognized him anywhere, drawn to him like a moth to the flame.

“Ye brought the old lad,” Donal said when Vanora got to him and handed him the reins to his horse. “I havnae seen him in so long! He’s a good horse, this one.”

“Aye,” Vanora said. “I remember seeing ye riding him around the grounds. I thought he’d be a good fit again for ye now.”