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“Who are ye? What hae ye done with me?” he asked in a thick Highland accent.

At least that is one mystery solved,Brenda thought.

After he spoke, he examined himself and winced as he touched his body, finding bruises all over the place. Brenda had a bowl of soothing ointment ready and offered it to him. He eyed it suspiciously but then took it and dabbed it on the bruises. He lifted up his wet shirt, revealing a strong torso that was covered in hair. Brenda felt a flush of arousal and averted her gaze immediately, having not expected to see that at all. Her cheeks flushed, and despite having turned her head away, she found that her vision drifted back toward him, watching him apply the ointment to his bruised flesh. The man was lean, but his body was all muscle, and the flare of attraction that existed in her heart could not be denied.

But still, it was not a feeling she was familiar with, so she tried to ignore it.

“My name is Brenda. I found you on the shore. What brought you to our island?”

“I… I escaped.”

“Escaped? From where?” Brenda’s voice had an excited edge, and she leaned forward in anticipation.

“Norway,” he said.

“Norway? What were you doing in Norway? My father hails from there.”

“Yer da?” he asked. “Where exactly am I?”

She assumed he was afraid that he was still in the Norse region, given that she didn’t have an overt Highland accent, so she laid his mind to rest with a small laugh.

“You are in the Highlands, on a small island off the main coast. What is your name, and where are you from?”

He finished applying the ointment and handed the bowl back. He still looked in a little bit of pain, but he appeared to have regained his senses.

“I’m Douglas McAlister. I was a guard tae Erik Hoffstad, and I hae been a prisoner of the Bjork clan for the past two years,” he said.

The smile fell from Brenda’s face as she realized that this man’s tale was not going to be an epic one at all. Rather it was a tragedy, with little scope for hope, but it was also remarkable how their lives were linked in such an inextricable way. A smile crossed her face as she realized that this man was not a stranger at all.