Page 36 of Highlander’s Evil Side

“Stop,” she gasped when his mouth moved from her lips to her neck. She tapped at his broad shoulders. His hands were crushing her to him.

Beitris’s eyes widened on Helga, standing in the middle of the room, her gaze on the floor. Did she not see what her son was doing? Or was she simply too terrified to help?

“Stop,” Beitris said, louder this time, shoving his shoulders away from her.

Fraser released her, and she stumbled backward, her back hitting the wall hard. He chuckled, leaning against the door frame, watching her lustfully. His tongue licked his lips. “Until the wedding night, then,” he said darkly before turning away and kicking the door closed.

Beitris clutched her chest. Her heart slammed within her. She could hear the pounding of it in her ears. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she inhaled deeply, trying to reclaim her breath. She didn’t understand. That was not the man who took her to the falls. That was not the man who built her bookshelves and guarded her door.

“Ye deserve to be kissed softly,” she recalled Fraser’s soft words from the falls. “To feel wanted and needed and loved, to feel joy knowing someone cares for ye. It should never be forced.”

Beitris pressed her face into her hands, swallowing her cries. Where was her Fraser? She wanted to scream; she didn’t want to believe this was real.

Beitris bit back a sob. Her brows tented into a grimace as she held back her cries. She smoothed her hands over her dress. Her wrist ached. She clutched it, wondering if it would bruise. In the morn, she would have the healer look at it. All she wanted to do was fall into her bed and pretend this all was a very dark nightmare. Her strides quickened, and she picked up her skirts, running back to her rooms. She would lock her door this night.

Beitris gasped as a sob racked her shoulders. Images flashed before her, recalling the way her first kiss was stolen from her. The man standing in front of her kissed her the same way. His touch had been harsh and ungentle. He ignored her cries. His very aura made her feel as if spiders were crawling across her skin.

But this was not the same Fraser from the falls.

The Fraser from the morn was gentle. His blue eyes had watched her with adoration and interest. Their kiss was soft, passionate, loving. He had stirred something within her, making her desire for more of him.

Where had he gone?she wondered. Where was her Fraser?

Beitris couldn’t marry the man she met moments before, with his cruel gaze and bitter smirk. She did not know this man. One moment he was kind, and the next moment he was dominating and terrifying. How would she ever be able to live happily when she did not know which Fraser she would get? Was he mad? Had something happened to him when he was a young lad for him to become this way?

Beitris was too exhausted to think anymore on the matter. She would write to her father after tending to her wrist in the morn. If her father wouldn’t see reason, she would run to Hendry. He would help her. She knew he would. Hendry would never let anything terrible happen to her.

She opened her door, pausing at the threshold. A man sat on the edge of her bed—a man with bloodshot blue eyes and dark hair. The injury on his head stared back at her. The blood now scabbed over. Dirt smudged his face, his hands, and his clothes. Water dripped from his hair as he slowly rose, stumbling towards her.

“Beitris,” Fraser whispered, his arms reaching for her.

Beitris gasped. “H-how?” she croaked. “H-how are ye here, Fraser?” Beitris shuddered as she looked over her shoulder, staring down the corridor she just came from. She could no longer control her body. She felt it slipping to the floor, her knees knocking against the stone. “When ye were there?” She clutched her head, feeling it ache behind her eyes, the pain ebbing into her temples. Hands touched her shoulders gently, and she jerked away from Fraser, watching as he kneeled before her.

“It’s alright, Beitris,” he whispered while wrapping his arms around her. “I’m here now.”

“Nae!” Beitris shouted, shoving him away. She scrambled away from him, her eyes wide and filled with terror. “Nae! Ye were with yer mother. Ye were cleaned and bandaged.”

Fraser tilted his head, confusion furrowing his brow. “I was here?”

Beitris nodded vigorously, her hands grabbing for the door, using the handle to pull herself up. “Are ye trying to make me mad?” she sobbed, tears spilling from her eyes.

“Beitris,” Fraser whispered, reaching for her once more.

“Nae, stay away from me!” she shouted.

“I am me, Beitris,” this Fraser insisted.

Her bottom lip quivered, her eyes grimacing as she tried to hold back her tears. This is the Fraser she wanted, the one who listened to her, the one who cared for her. He wasn’t trying to grab her; he wasn’t trying to force her to do something she didn’t wish for herself. This Fraser didn’t close the distance between them, didn’t grab her and drag her towards him.

Beitris released a sob, placing her face in her hands. “I don’t understand,” she gasped, her shoulders shaking with each sob escaping her. “I don’t understand.”