Page 51 of The Laird’s Sinful Secret

“Dae ye understand why ye cannae dae this alone?” His grip on her chin tightened, not painful but unyielding. “Dae ye understand what would have happened if I hadn’t been following ye? If me archers hadn’t been positioned tae see those bastards moving through the trees?”

Horror crashed through her as understanding followed. “Ye kenned. Ye kenned I was going tae run.”

“I suspected.” His jaw clenched. “Catriona came tae me the moment ye left yer chamber. Said ye looked like someone about tae dae something monumentally stupid.”

“So ye followed me.” Betrayal mixed with relief in her chest, warring for dominance. “Ye let me think I’d escaped.”

“I let ye see how quickly ye’d be captured without protection.” His voice softened slightly, some of the anger draining away. “How vulnerable ye are out here, nay matter how brave or clever ye think ye can be.”

The truth of it settled over her like a shroud. She’d barely made it beyond the castle walls before MacKenzie scouts had found her. She would have been dragged back to her father within the hour if not for Euan’s intervention.

She would have been used as leverage in whatever scheme Keith had planned next.

“I’m sorry.” The words came out hoarse. “I just wanted tae stop being a burden. Tae stop causing death everywhere I go.”

“Ye’re nae a burden.” Euan’s hands moved from her chin to cup her face, his touch impossibly gentle despite the violence still staining his blade. “Ye’re a woman caught in circumstances beyond yer control, trying tae survive as best ye can. That’s not shameful. That’s nae something tae apologize fer.”

“Then what dae I dae?” Her vision blurred with tears she refused to let fall. “How dae I live with kenning people keep dying because I exist?”

“Ye live by trusting that I’ll protect what’s mine.” His thumb brushed away a tear that had escaped despite her best efforts. “Ye live by accepting that sometimes the bravest thing ye can dae is let someone else carry the burden fer a while.”

“I’m nae yers tae protect.” But the protest came out weak, lacking conviction.

“Aren’t ye?” Something fierce and possessive flashed in his grey eyes. “Because from where I’m standing, holding ye after nearly losing ye tae men who would have dragged ye back tae the faither who abandoned ye, it feels like ye’re exactly mine. Have been since the moment I found ye in that cell.”

Moyra stared up at him, at the barely leashed intensity in his expression, and felt something shift in her chest.

He’d called her his.

Not as property. Not as leverage or political advantage.

But as something precious. Something worth protecting even it put his own people at risk.

“Ye’re mad,” she whispered.

“Aye.” His mouth quirked despite everything. “Completely. Niall tells me so daily.”

“Yer clan will hate me. Fer the danger I bring.”

“Me clan will accept what I tell them tae accept.” His voice hardened with authority. “And what I’m telling them is that ye’re under me protection. That anyone who touches ye answers tae me personally.”

“Even when me faither keeps sending threats?”

“Even then.” No hesitation. Just absolute certainty that made her chest ache. “Now come. We need tae return before Niall sends out a full search party.”

Euan kept one hand on Moyra’s elbow as they walked back toward the castle, his other hand still gripping his sword despite the immediate threat being past. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins, making every sound sharper, every shadow a potential ambush.

He’d been prepared to find her surrounded. Had positioned archers in the trees the moment Catriona had come running with news that Moyra had left her chamber with that look people got when they’d decided to do something sacrificially stupid.

What he hadn’t been prepared for was the raw terror that had lanced through him when he’d seen that bastard’s hands on her. The primal rage that had consumed him as he’d watched her struggle, heard her scream.

The absolute certainty that he would’ve killed every MacKenzie scout in those woods with his bare hands if necessary to get to her.

“Ye’re still shaking,” Moyra observed quietly.

“Aye.” No point in denying it. “Ye terrified me, lass. Watching ye run intae danger like that.”

“I’m sorry.”