Page 33 of The Highlander’s Hunted Wife (Legacy of Highland Lairds #2)

33

H uddled by the fireplace in a moth-eaten blanket, remembering a thousand nights in front of its comforting flames, Katie struggled to feel that same soothing reassurance.

This is home. This is where ye belong.

She had tried to tell herself that over and over, but it was like trying to pull on an old dress that no longer fit—the seams strained and protested, the collar strangled her, the sleeves clung in an awkward way, the hem too short, belonging to a different version of herself.

The cottage itself seemed like it was telling her that their time together was over, looking pitiful in the dawn light that fogged in through the broken windows and limp doorway. It was a warrior that had taken its final beating, unable to recover, unable to lumber to its feet for one more bout.

“Ye should sleep,” Lewis urged, bringing over a cracked cup of something hot and fragrant that he’d just boiled over the fire.

Katie took the cup gratefully, wrapping her cold hands around it. “I dinnae think I could, even if I wanted to.”

“I can make ye a bed if that’s yer worry?” he offered, gesturing to the back room. “There’s plenty in there that’s still of use.”

She wondered how he knew that but quickly shook the thought away. He knew because he’d been the one guarding her cottage while she’d been a ‘guest’ at Castle MacKimmon. It stood to reason that he’d have searched the place to assess the degree of destruction.

“Nay, thank ye,” she replied with a smile. “I think I’d like to just keep sittin’ here, in front of the fire that ye so kindly made for me. I dinnae think I’ll sit here again for a while, perhaps ever, so… I’d like to savor the moment.”

Lewis dragged a four-legged stool that now only had three to the hearth and perched on it. “Ye’re nae thinkin’ of goin’ back, are ye?”

“I’ll have to, for me siblings,” she answered, though she knew what he was really asking: whether or not she was going back to him . To Hector.

And I dinnae have a response for ye. I… just dinnae ken.

She couldn’t rid her mind of Rhona’s sultry sighs and gasping moans, nor the cries of Hector’s name from that woman’s mouth. They repeated like torture, sweeping back in whenever her thoughts began to drift elsewhere.

The trouble was, there was more at stake than her wounded feelings. Lyall and Bonnie could thrive in a castle like that, with a Lady for a sister. Pipkin would never have to chase another rabbit for anything but sport if he wanted to.

And he didnae promise me a real marriage, after all.

Hector hadn’t broken any vows to her, and though what she had heard still stung like a thousand needle pricks, it was nothing really but a nasty shock. A jolt of reality that, perhaps, she had needed.

“Ye cannae marry him now, though,” Lewis pressed, his brown eyes searching her face.

Katie blew on her drink. “I’ve had a long night,” she said stiffly. “I cannae even think of what I’ll do in the next five minutes, much less the next five hours. Ye’ve been… wonderful, Lewis, and I’m so very grateful for the kindness ye’ve shown me, but… if I might, I would like to be alone now. For a while, at least.”

“I dinnae think so, lass,” Lewis replied.

She laughed softly in the back of her throat. “I’ll be quite all right, Lewis. Nay one who would cause me or this cottage any harm is awake now, and with the sun comin’ up, they willnae do anythin’ in the light.”

“Ye misunderstand me,” Lewis said, his voice sterner than it had been before, losing some of its gentleness. “I havenae waited all this time to give up now. I willnae let ye go back to that man.”

Katie’s smile faltered. “Pardon?”

“Ye have nay choice now.” A strange smile twisted up the corners of his mouth. “Ye cannae go back, and ye cannae go anywhere else. The Laird will think ye’ve run off to avoid the marriage, and once word spreads, he willnae demean himself by takin’ ye back. But I’ll have ye, Katie. I promise I will.”

She stared at him in shock, uncertain of whether the glint in his eyes was a trick of the firelight or something more sinister. Perhaps it was her tiredness making his words sound like something they weren’t. Lewis would never harm her or wish ill on her, after all.

“Nay one kens I’m here but ye, Lewis,” she said as evenly as she could. “News willnae spread. If anyone asks, I’ll say I went for a wander in the woods to clear me head, or to visit the pools to soothe away the aches from hunchin’ over me sewin’ all night.”

Lewis’s eyes flashed, the glint very real this time. “So, after all of that, ye are plannin’ to return to him?”

“I… told ye, Lewis. I havenae decided anythin’. I cannae decide anythin’ at this moment, bein’ so tired and all,” she replied, a chill that didn’t come from the morning draft beetling down her spine, prickling her skin into gooseflesh. “I think I just need some time alone—I really do—to get me thoughts straight.”

“And I’m tellin’ ye, I’m nae leavin’ this cottage without ye,” Lewis insisted, his tone grim.

His gaze flitted, for a moment, to the cup in her hands. In that instant, she knew she wouldn’t drink a drop, even if it turned out to be harmless.

“What do ye want, Lewis?” she asked more firmly as she noted the poker out of the corner of her eye. It would serve as a good enough weapon in a pinch.

“What I’ve always wanted,” he answered. “And, as ye said yerself, nay one kens ye’re here but me. For now, at least, but I suspect the whole castle will ken by the time the sun has fully risen.”

She held tighter to the cup, realizing she had a much closer weapon at hand. “This isnae how a friend speaks to a friend. I dinnae like what ye’re implyin’, Lewis. I think ye should stop now, and I think ye should leave.”

“Lass, I’ve never wanted to be yer friend. Nay man wants to be a lass’s friend.” Lewis let out a strained chuckle. “I could be so much more if ye’d cease fightin’ this, if ye’d stop rejectin’ me. Ye dinnae need a monster for a husband. A man who doesnae care a bit about ye. What I’m offerin’ ye is a proper marriage, forged with love and affection and worship and all the care ye could ever want.”

An hour ago, she might have been tempted by that offer, seeing it in stark contrast to the fake and shallow union that Hector had promised. The words themselves might have been considered romantic, but it was the way in which Lewis said them that set her nerves on edge—a note of madness, of possession, of trying to force her into a destiny that didn’t fit. Had never fit, or she’d have accepted long ago.

“This isnae the time for a conversation like this,” she insisted. “If ye do care for me, as ye claim, as ye’ve shown, then ye’ll leave me be as I asked.”

He leaned forward, his hands clasped. “I’ll be gentle with ye, lass. We can go wherever ye want to go, see whatever ye want to see. I’ll show ye the world, I’ll care for yer siblings, I’ll be the husband ye deserve.” He paused, glancing at the broken window. “Ye just arrived a little early, but nay matter. He’ll be here soon.”

“Excuse me?” She recoiled. “ Who will be here soon?”

“The priest, lass,” Lewis replied with that same, strange grin. “Once he arrives, once he’s married us, then nae even the Laird will be able to come between us.”

She was up on her feet in an instant, still clinging to that cup of hot, suspicious tea. “Ye… planned this?”

But how?

Her mind reeled, but she was searching through a darkened, bewildering forest for the answers. How could he have known she would come back here tonight? How could he have known she would leave the castle, leave Hector, leave all thoughts of the wedding behind?

“Ye deserve so much, Katie,” Lewis urged, also rising to his feet. “I’d never hurt ye the way he’s done. I’d never take ye for granted or treat ye as if ye were nothin’. I’d never ignore ye for even a day, much less a week. And if I kenned ye were at the pools in the middle of the woods, I wouldnae leave ye to fend for yerself, where anythin’ might have happened to ye. I didnae. I came back to make sure ye were safe, but can ye say the same about him?”

She began to back away, awful creatures of realization creeping out of the grim forest in her mind, startling her.

“How do ye ken he ignored me for a week?” She hadn’t told him that part. “What do ye mean, ye came back to make sure I was safe?”

That shadowy figure crashing through the undergrowth, racing away from Pipkin’s vicious barks, and the arrival of Hector himself… It made her blood run cold, wondering what might have happened if Hector hadn’t shown up when he did.

“Have ye been watchin’ me?” she gasped, glaring at Lewis. “Was that ye in the woods?”

She felt sick to her stomach, shuddering at the vileness of it. All he had seen without her knowledge, all he might have seen that was supposed to be private.

Lewis laughed as if this was all a joyful game. “I’ve watched ye when I could, as I’ve watched this cottage of yers whenever I could. But I’m a busy man, Katie. I’ve made somethin’ of meself with me own hands, which that beast cannae say for himself.” He beamed with unnerving pride. “I have a fair fortune now, Katie. Nae a mere miller anymore, but a merchant. A trader of fine goods.”

“What?” She stared at him in disbelief. “Is this supposed to impress me?”

“It should.” He puffed out his chest. “I did it for ye—well, partially. Spices, foods, jewels, fabrics. I can get me hands on it all. Och, ye could make as many beautiful gowns as ye wanted. Name what ye desire, and I can import it for ye. Ye could even make gowns for grand ladies—between raisin’ our bairns, of course. We’d be the wealthiest couple in Scotland in nay time at all.”

She stumbled over a fallen chair, regaining her balance. “Ye’ve taken leave of yer senses.”

She wanted to look back to see how far she was from the door, but if she took her eyes off Lewis, she feared he might lunge at her. This wasn’t a hunt; this was a trap, and she could feel the snare tightening.

“Aye, probably, but they do say that a man in love is a madman,” Lewis replied, laughing. “Goes the other way, though. If ye can get a lass to love ye, she’ll do anythin’ for ye.”

“But I dinnae love ye,” she shot back, shuffling with greater caution toward the calling nip of the morning air, letting it guide her to the doorway bit by anxious bit.

Lewis rolled his eyes. “I wasnae talkin’ about ye. I ken ye dinnae love me now, but ye will when ye see all I’ve done for ye and all I mean to do for ye and yer siblings. Ye’ll wonder how ye ever rejected me in the first place.”

Katie hesitated, a stab of curiosity holding her in place for a moment. “If ye werenae talkin’ about me, then who?”

He smirked, taking another step toward her. “Dinnae ye worry about her. It’s nae her I want. It’s nae her I mean to marry.” His confidence wavered. “She didnae tell ye otherwise, did she? If she did, I didnae mean it. I just told her I was goin’ to marry her so she’d do as I asked. Desperate , she was.”

Katie’s head pounded with the strain of trying to figure out the missing pieces of what wasn’t being said, the answer just on the tip of her tongue.

“I only love ye, Katie,” Lewis continued, his voice laced with the urgency of a man making excuses. “I wouldnae dream of lowerin’ meself to bein’ the husband of a harlot. It was all a ruse, nay matter what she might have told ye.”

It hit Katie like a bolt of lightning.

“Ye involved Rhona?” she wheezed, remembering those awful sounds of pleasure. “Did ye ask her to seduce Hector?”

Aye, but Hector didnae have to oblige, the voice in the back of her head reminded her.

Lewis snorted. “I asked her to try, but even the Laird has standards, or so it seems. She couldnae get him to oblige, though she threw herself at him.” He grinned. “As if I would be any different. I’m a finer man than the Laird. I wouldnae so much as touch that lass if it wasnae to gain somethin’ better.”

All at once, the events of the night ordered themselves into a neat and devastating line: the figure by the pools watching her, the hunt that took Hector away from the castle, Rhona’s unexpected visit with words of advice and every suggestion as to why Katie shouldn’t marry Hector, and then those sounds through the door…

Rather a coincidence, now that Katie had a clear-headed moment to think about it.

I didnae hear Hector’s voice… and I ken he’s nae silent in his passion.

And though she had seen Hector return to the castle, she had no idea if he had retired to his chambers. For all she knew, he could have taken the stag to the kitchens and then gone on to his study, where he had been spending most of his time of late.

“Ye tricked me,” she rasped, shooting Lewis a fierce glare. “Ye… arranged all of this.”

“ Rhona did,” Lewis corrected, his hands up. “She said ye’d be predictable, and ye were. She said ye’d have doubts, and ye did. She said she’d make ye run, and ye did. Of course, she thinks the reason for all of this is that I’m goin’ to sell ye off to a French merchant for a handsome sum, but I have nay intention of doin’ that.”

Katie staggered backward, spitting out, “What would ye have done if I wasnae so… predictable?”

“Stolen ye away, love,” Lewis purred. “I’d have rescued ye from that castle and that curse of a weddin’, one way or another.”

At that moment, she heard a whistle on the road outside the cottage.

The priest was coming. The priest was on his way to marry them. And if it was the village priest, then she knew she had no ally in him. He had been one of the first to spit at her and damn her family when news of Johnson’s crimes broke.

“Even if there was nay Hector, I would never want ye,” she hissed.

Whirling around, she darted for the door, and, slamming it behind her as hard as she could, she sprinted off through the vegetable garden. It would buy her seconds at most, and she meant to use every last one.

She sailed over the garden gate in time to see the priest arriving on the back of his mule, no more than twenty paces away from the cottage.

“Halt there!” he yelled as, behind her, the sound of Lewis trying to break through the door shattered the morning stillness.

The cottage, it seemed, had mustered enough strength for one last fight. The door must have gotten wedged, offering her a wider window of opportunity to get away. Still narrow, but enough to give her hope of getting ahead of Lewis.

She took it, running with all her might across the road and through the whispering, long grass to the riverbank. She half fell down the muddy slope, crashing into the icy cold water, wading with all her strength against the current that threatened to sweep her away—although, that wouldn’t be as bad a fate as getting caught by Lewis.

As if on cue, she heard the door explode open, and a mighty roar split the quiet above the babble of the river.

Lewis was loose, and he was coming after her. And there was no one to help her but herself.