Page 51 of A Kilted Marriage of Convenience

Ciara sighed deeply and leaned back on the beam with her eyes closed. Shortly after she felt the ship start to move, she heard someone descending the ladder.

Her father came into view fully, holding an oil lantern. He settled it on the ground, leaning forward and peering quietly at Ciara for some time. He straightened up, and as quick as lightning cracked her across the face with a backhanded slap. She rocked backward, smacking hard against the beam.

She wheezed and sucked in some air. Her eye would definitely swell from the blow, and her lip now dribbled blood. The pain was like an old enemy, one who was fought over and over but never defeated. She was used to this pain. She knew this enemy; it was not a new monster. Still, it hurt. Her ears were ringing, and she could not remember when last she had been struck with so much force.

“That’s for all the trouble ye put me through,” Keir said, adjusting his jerkin, “and for making me late on my delivery to Laird Morrison, and for all the men I had to lose today to recover ye. Ye tried to escape yer fate, but ye are so utterly useless that ye couldnae carry out such a simple task. I guess it was yer fault for picking such a useless man to try and protect ye. I kent that all I needed were a few words to manipulate the stupid MacDonald lad. I kent that he would grow embarrassed and bored of ye and when he learned about yer previous betrothal.”

Ciara’s side still hurt from her earlier crash on the deck, and her right eye was swollen shut now. “Laird Aidan MacDonald is twice the man ye could ever hope to be, father.”

Keir’s face darkened, and he struck her again, on the same side of her face. Ciara gasped and shook her head, dazed, but she couldn’t stop now.

“Careful now, eh?” she said mockingly, knowing it would enrage her father. “Ye dinnae want to ruin yer goods before ye have them delivered now to Laird Morrison, dae ye?”

“Ye think I care?” her father replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “I ken that the laird has also been very upset with ye. Why, he wishes to discipline ye himself soon as he has ye in his possession.”

Possession.

“Well, I am sorry to disappoint ye, father,” Ciara begun with the last of her strength, “but it seems as though ye will end up delivering spoiled goods to Laird Morrison after all.”

“And what daes that mean, my dearest bairn?” Keir leaned in closer until his face was mere inches away from Ciara’s.

“I have already lay with a man, father—with Laird MacDonald. I’m nae pure maiden after all.” Ciara held her father’s gaze fearlessly, even though her heart was pounding so hard in her chest that she couldn’t hear anything except its beating.

Keir’s face flickered with pure rage, and his eyes went as hard as stones. He glared at Ciara, and she felt a stab of panic. She clenched her jaw as hard as she could and tried her best to brace herself for the blow she feared was coming.

“That is naething to me,” Keir said through clenched teeth. He got up slowly from the ground and stretched his legs, before he walked over to the ladder and grabbed the lantern he had come in with.

Ciara let out a deep breath of relief. She looked up at her father, leaning her head against the support beam.

“It isnae my business what ye did with the MacDonald lout,” Keir said, turning back to face Ciara with cold eyes. “Ye are the one who will have to face the wrath of Laird Morrison when he finds out that ye are nae virginal. As for me? Well, I will get my gold in full. Ye will deal with the consequences of yer whoring alone when Morrison finds out he has been cheated of yer maidenhead.”

“For what it’s worth, I would have ye ken that yer wedding is in two days from now. Morrison’s patience has worn thin, and I am betting he cannae wait to have ye. Yet he will probably murder ye with his bare hands when he finds out that ye are soiled.” He barked an evil laugh as he said the last part, bending over and clutching his belly.

Ciara grimaced in disgust as she listened to the pure evil that was coming from her father. “Am I even yer daughter?” Ciara asked as her eyes welled with tears.

“Unfortunately, aye,” Keir responded coolly. “It’s a shame ye inherited yer weakmother’s spirit as well as her looks.”

“I thought ye loved my mother,” Ciara said, feeling confused. “How can ye treat yer last reminder of her like this? A bairn that ye both made out of love?”

“Love is fleeting, stupid.” Keir crouched before her again. “Aye, I was lucky enough to learn that lesson early. I had wanted yer mother in my youth. She hadnae wanted me back. That had been easy to fix, for I had simply bought her from her father. Only after she was sent to my keep, did I discover my error. Yer mother was weak, and her body was frail. All my infatuation for her disappeared like mist on a sunny day. By the time she was pregnant, I kent in my heart that she wouldnae make it. It felt to me like the biggest waste of gold I had made in my life at the time.”

Her father took a deep breath, and he smiled. “My only hope of mitigating my loss was that she would birth me a son. To my surprise, and as proof of her utter uselessness, she had borne a daughter.”

Keir got up and left without another word, leaving Ciara alone in the darkness with nothing but her pain for company.