Page 44 of Highland Vows of Betrayal

“Perhaps nae, but I can see it in yer face.” With those parting words, he was gone.

Worry for ye, why should I worry for ye? I am nae really the one who will marry ye, am I?

The thought cut deep as she considered the kiss they’d shared in the mud and how he had thrown himself over her to protect her.

“Dinnae think of that,” she ordered herself and marched across the room, reaching for the fire. When she couldn't find a tinderbox, she made a fire by rubbing wood together, as Athol had taught her many years ago.

As the fire grew, she sat as close to the flames as she could, hoping to dry quickly with her gown dripping wet and her hair damp. However, the heat had little effect since the air was too cold and her body was too wet. She shivered, her teeth chattered, and the pain in her arm worsened.

She flinched as Noah returned, jerking awake from a nap by the fire.

“It’s me,” he assured her, striding into the room. He was even wetter than he’d been earlier. Before she could ask if he’d been caught in the storm, lightning flashed overhead and thunder rumbled. It echoed so deeply Scarlett was unsure if the earth quaked.

Noah shook out his hands, warming them by the fire.

“Where are the horses?” she queried.

“I’ve hidden them between some large stones nearby.” He lowered a satchel to the floor and gathered the weapons he’d assembled. He also had the bag full of dirks, and the crossbow they would use for hunting.

When thunder rumbled again, Scarlett hovered close to the flames, trying to warm herself by the heat.

“We’re stuck for the night,” Noah stated, repeating what she already knew. “In that storm, we cannae make it back tae the castle. If those men are watching for us, they’d find us.”

“Aye.” She nodded before finally gathering the courage to check her wound.

“We need to do something about that.” Noah turned to the blanket he’d recovered from the horses. He hung it near the fire to dry, then tore off a corner of the tartan plaid. “Come over here.”

Scarlett raised an eyebrow at him.

“Please,” he added wearily. “Dae I have tae say please every time?”

Reluctantly, she stood and went over to him. “Aye, it’s called being polite.”

“I am nae being demanding when I ask for things.”

“Nae? Ye could have fooled me.” She caught him smiling, and she couldn’t help returning the look. Somehow, it was easy to tease him, even in an awful moment like this.

He wrapped the strip of plaid around her arm and pulled tight.

She tried her best not to think of the tingle his touch set off beneath her skin; the sensation reached deep into her core.

“That will stop the blood for now. ‘Tisnae deep. The castle healer will place a few sutures, and yer skin will be whole again. Now, tae other matters.” Noah stood before her with his hands on his hips as she examined the tourniquet.

“Care tae tell me why those men are hunting ye?”

Scarlett froze at the question.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Scarlett?” Noah was all too aware of her silence. She didn’t look him in the eye, but stared somewhere in the middle of his chest, the light of the fire glowing on her face.

“The men are hunting ye.”

“Well, ye tell me why,” she murmured. “Nothing like this has ever happened tae me before. I come tae yer castle, ready tae marry ye, and this happened!”

“’Tisnae because of me,” he shook his head firmly. There was something wrong with this situation. The men could have targeted him at any point, but they wanted to hurt her. “Ye think I dinnae ken what battle is like?”

“I ken ye do.” She looked him in the eye at last. “Ye are a warrior laird, are ye nae? Yer a trained soldier.”